Striker and sill structure

ABSTRACT

A Stub Striker equipped with front draft lugs adapted to be connected to the free end of a center sill structure of a railway vehicle without any substantial overlapping of the striker and sill structure. The striker has surfaces which facilitate welding of the inner end of the striker to the free end of the sill structure by linear welding which is substantially at right angles to the draft forces.

United States Patent Inventor David J. Reynolds Columbus, Ohio App]. No. 739,060

Filed June 21, 1968 Patented Feb. 9, 1971 Assignee The Buckeye Steel Castings Company Columbus, Ohio STRIKER AND SILL STRUCTURE 1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figs.

1m. c1 B6lf 1/02 Field of Search 105/420; 213/50, 57, 58, 60

[ 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,244,200 6/1941 Johnson 105/420 2,646,010 7/1953 Nystrom 105/420 2,706,051 4/1955 Nystrom 213/50 2,902,947 9/ 1959 Lich 105/420 3,223,050 12/1965 Warnock 105/420 Primary Examiner-Drayton E. Hoffman Attorney-Lloyd P. Shank ABSTRACT: A Stub Striker equipped with front draft lugs adapted to be connected to the free end of a center sill structure of a railway vehicle without any substantial overlapping of the striker and sill structure. The striker has surfaces which facilitate welding of the inner end of the striker to the free end of the sill structure by linear welding which is substantially at right angles to the draft forces.

' SHEET 1 0F 2 PATENTED FEB 9 I971 FIG 5 mill/I14 STRIKER AND SILL STRUCTURE The present invention relates to a striker and sill structure for a railway car designed for freight service and more speciflcally pertains toa striker which projects beyond the free end of the center sill and with the inner end of the striker so shaped that weld metal securing the free end of the sill structure to the striker is disposed substantially at right angles to the striker direction in which the draft forces are applied to the underframe.

A conventional striker is shaped to fit within the free end portion of a center sill structure and the sill overlaps a portion of the striker for a distance of. approximately 14 inches. In

such an assembly the striker is secured to the sill structure by riveting or by the application of weld'metal applied along the boundaries of slots in the sill structure or slots in the striker with the welds being disposed longitudinally of the sill structure and parallel to the draft forces.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the weight of the underframe and to avoid any significant overlapping of the striker and the sill structure and the length of the center sill is reduced by as much as l2 inches at each end of the railway car and to thereby reduce the weight of assembly and making it possible for the car to carry a greater pay load.

Another object of the invention is to provide a striker which may be connected to the sill structure by welding with the weld metal applied in a generally linear manner disposed substantially atright angles to the draft forces and to thereby increase the strength of the attachment of the striker to the sill structure, and to avoid the necessity of applying numerous welds or rivets.

A further object of the invention is to provide a striker which may be mounted on existing railway cars when the original elongated sill structure thereof becomes battered by removing the damaged end portion of the sill when the stub striker may be secured to the free end of the shortened sill whereby this portion of the draft assembly is restored to an operable condition.

Another object of the invention is to provide a striker which need not be finished on its exterior surfaces because it is not accommodated within the center sill structure.

Other objects and features of the invention will be appreciated and become apparent as the present disclosure proceeds and upon consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein an exemplary embodiment of the invention is disclosed.

In the drawings: i

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a stub striker embodying the invention shown in relationship with the free end of a shortened sill structure.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, on a larger scale, showing the stub striker and the sill structure in assembled relationship.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view showing the front of the striker.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG..3 and showing a'portion of the sill structure in section.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2 showing the weld joint at one side of the striker and sill.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional .view taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4 illustrating the weld connection of the striker and sill structure at the other side of the assembly.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. 3.

An assembly embodying the invention includes a sill structure of a conventional double Z shape but of shorter length so that the free end 10 is disposed approximately 12 inches nearer the body center plate. The reduction in length of the center sill at each end of sill structure provides a reduction in weight of the underframe. A damaged end portion of a conventional center sill may be cut off so that it has a free end such as indicated at 10 in FIG. 1.

The character of the stub striker will be appreciated from a consideration of FIG. 1 and it has side walls 12 and 14 and a generally horizontal top wall 15 joining the side walls. Each side wall has a horizontally disposed slot l6 for accommodating a draft key. A rib 17 formed integral with the associated side wall serves to reinforce the striker in the vicinity of the slots 16. The forward portion of the striker is open as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 for receiving the coupler stem. The lower free end portions of the side walls 12 and 14 are joined by a horizontal member 18 which serves as a coupler carrier and may be provided with a wear plate adapted to support the coupler stem. Structure providing a striker face 19 is fonned integral with side walls and the top wall. Vertically disposed laterally extending portions 20 at opposite sides of the opening for the coupler ste'm reinforce the side walls and form additional abutment surfaces. The side walls I2 and I4 taken with the top wall 15 have such dimensions that the external shape of the striker substantially corresponds to the shape of the sill. The striker does not fit within the sill structure and there is no significant overlapping of the sill structure with the striker. Thus no finishing of the exterior faces of the side walls and the top wall is required.

A vertical flange 24 provides an extension of the sidewall 12 of the stub striker. The exterior surface of the flange 24 fits within and lies along the inner face of the sidewall 26 of the sill structure. The flange 24 supports a front draft lug 25. A horizontal flange 27 extends into the sill structure from the top wall 15 of the striker and the upper surface thereof lies along the under surface of the top wall 28 of the sill structure. The flange'may be recessed as indicated at 29. A flange 31 provides an extension of the sidewall 14 of the striker and has an exterior surface which fits within and lies along the inner surface of the sidewall 32 of the sill structure. The flange 31 serves to support a front draft lug 37. These flanges project into the sill structure for no more than 2 inches so that there is no significant overlapping of the striker and the sill structure as has been the practice in the past.

The striker may be equipped with a horizontal web 38 adapted to abut the free end of the laterally extending flange 41 of the sill structure. A similar web 39 at the other side of the striker is adapted to abut the free end of the laterally extending flange 41 at the other side of the sill structure. Each of these webs hasan edge surface 42 which merges with the associated sidewall of the striker. The webs 38 and 39 may be omitted if desired.

As best shown in FIG. 2 a beveled surface 46 is provided between the top wall 15 and the flange 27. A similar beveled surface 47 is provided adjacent the juncture of the side wall 12 and the flange 24. A beveled surface 48 is also provided between the sidewall 14 and the flange 31. A groove is thus provided between the free end edge'of the sill structure and the striker. This groove is adapted to receive weld metal joining the top wall and the sidewalls of the striker with the sill structure.

The weld metal is disposed in-a generally linear manner which is arranged at right angles to the draft forces. When webs 38 and 39 are provided on the striker they may be secured to the associated lateral flanges of the sill structure by a weld metal (FIG. 7) which is also arranged along the line which is substantially at right angles to the draft forces. Such butt welding with the weld metal extending between two surfaces differs signiflcantly from fillet welds which have been employed in the past. Fillet welds are subjected to shear stress whereas butt welds are stressed in tension or compression and are thus stronger than when the metal is stressed in shear. The weld metal joining the stub striker to the sill structure being at right angles to the draft forces develops stress which is substantially uniform throughout the weld, so that all of the weld metal can go up to the stress limit before failure begins. This provides the advantage over the prior arrangements wherein the weld lines are parallel to the draft forces and such forces stress the weld metal the least in the intermediate portion of the weld while the highest stresses are applied at the ends of the weld where the weld tends to fail. The stub striker as hereinabove described, while being approximately 20 pounds heavier than a conventional striker, provides a reduction in weight at each end of the railway vehicle because there is a saving of approximately 84 pounds at each end of the vehicle as a consequence of the reduction in the length of a conventional sill structure. Thus a given railway vehicle can handle approximately 128 128 pounds more lading.

While the invention has been described with reference to a particular type of striker for use in the association with a coupler that is to be connected to to the draft assembly with a horizontally disposed draft key, it will be appreciated that changes may be made in the striker and in the sill structure. Such modifications and others may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

lclaim:

l. A striker and sill structure for a railway car comprising, a sill structure, said sill structure having a top wall and sidewalls depending therefrom, a free end edge on said sill structure disposed in a plane transversely of the sill structure, a striker having a top wall and sidewalls, inner end edge surfaces on the top and sidewalls of the striker, the external surfaces of said top and sidewalls of the striker being generally in the planes of the external surfaces of the walls of said sill structure with the inner end edge surfaces of the striker abutting the free end edge of the sill structure, a flange carried by one sidewall of the striker extending inside a sidewall of the sill structure, a

flange carried by the top wall of the striker extending inside the top wall of a sill structure, a flange carried by the other sidewall of the striker extending inside the other sidewall of the sill structure, linear butt welds extending substantially at right angles to the length of the sill structure joining the free end edge of said sill structure to the inner end edges of the top and sidewalls of the striker whereby the welds extend transversely to the longitudinal dimensions of the sill structure so that the welds are stressed in tension and compression during application of pulling and buffing forces to the striker and sill structure, a flange projecting laterally from the lower portion of each sidewall of the sill structure, a free end edge on each flange, a web carried by the lower portion of one sidewall of the striker with an inner edge in abutting relationship with the free end edge on one flange of the sill structure, another web carried by the lower portion of the other sidewall of the striker having an inner edge in abutting relationship with free end edge on the other lateral flange of the sill structure, side edges on said webs converging towards and merging respectively with the sidewalls of the striker in proceeding from the inner end of the striker, and linear butt welds extending transversely of the length of the sill structure joining the inner edges of said webs of to the free end edge of said lateral flanges. 

1. A striker and sill structure for a railway car comprising, a sill structure, said sill structure having a top wall and sidewalls depending therefrom, a free end edge on said sill structure disposed in a plane transversely of the sill structure, a striker having a top wall and sidewalls, inner end edge surfaces on the top and sidewalls of the striker, the external surfaces of said top and sidewalls of the striker being generally in the planes of the external surfaces of the walls of said sill structure with the inner end edge surfaces of the striker abutting the free end edge of the sill structure, a flange carried by one sidewall of the striker extending inside a sidewall of the sill structure, a flange carried by the top wall of the striker extending inside the top wall of a sill structure, a flange carried by the other sidewall of the striker extending inside the other sidewall of the sill structure, linear butt welds extending substantially at right angles to the length of the sill structure joining the free end edge of said sill structure to the inner end edges of the top and sidewalls of the striker whereby the welds extend transversely to the longitudinal dimensions of the sill structure so that the welds are stressed in tension and compression during application of pulling and buffing forces to the striker and sill structure, a flange projecting laterally from the lower portion of each sidewall of the sill structure, a free end edge on each flange, a web carried by the lower portion of one sidewall of the striker with an inner edge in abutting relationship with the free end edge on one flange of the sill structure, another web carried by the lower portion of the other sidewall of the striker having an inner edge in abutting relationship with free end edge oN the other lateral flange of the sill structure, side edges on said webs converging towards and merging respectively with the sidewalls of the striker in proceeding from the inner end of the striker, and linear butt welds extending transversely of the length of the sill structure joining the inner edges of said webs of to the free end edge of said lateral flanges. 